Applications for unemployment benefits increase, but still low

While the weekly number for U.S. jobless aid ticked up, the four-week average declined.

The Associated Press

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WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose slightly last week yet remained at a low level consistent with solid job growth. Weekly applications for jobless aid rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 267,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less volatile figure, declined to 271,750. Applications are a proxy for layoffs, and the low readings suggest Americans are enjoying solid job security. Steady economic growth has encouraged employers to hold onto the workers they already have and is spurring more hiring. The four-week average fell to a 15-year low last month. The steady stream of low readings also indicates that employers have not been spooked by signs of slowing growth in China or recent volatility in the stock market. Employers have added an average of 221,000 jobs a month in the past three months, a solid pace and above the average of 189,000 in the preceding three months. The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1 percent, a seven-year low. The job market’s recovery is a key reason Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has indicated that the Fed may raise short-term interest rates by the end of this year. The Fed decided against raising rates at its meeting last week, citing too-low inflation and economic turmoil overseas. The interest rate the Fed controls has been pegged near zero for seven years. “The pace of job gains has been solid, the unemployment rate has declined, and overall labor market conditions have continued to improve,” Yellen said at a press conference last week.

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